Supposition
by WhiteTulipsFreshScares
Summary: The emptiness Sasuke left has sucked everyone in.
1. Chapter 1

Supposition: An uncertain belief.

The smell of cigarettes and liquor lingered on her clothes. A reminder of what she had done, become and had yet to do. The night sky was alive with stars that slowly moved across the never-ending black canvas, and oh how it looked like his eyes. Reminiscing was a dangerous game. That's what made it her favourite. She would get lost for hours in happier times that had never truly been. Up on her apartment buildings roof. Sixteen stories high, the breeze a comfort and a curse. She shuddered as it blew straight through her black hoodie, disrupting her game. She stood on shaky feet, still drunk, but not drunk enough. She released a sigh, long and dramatic, a metaphor for the ever-present absence of normality in her life. Normality was something she craved, craved like she craved the oxygen she choked on. She craved too much for the lifestyle she led. A ninja. A sad, lonely existence that would end at thirty-five if she was fortunate enough to be cut short. She walked down the steps to her apartment on the thirteenth floor. A small one-bedroom space. Devoid of life and certainty. Purple drapes but a red sofa, nothing matching, nothing working. She ran calloused hands through her hair, raking through the knots, feeling for the split ends. She opened the door, always unlocked for nighttime visitors. She wandered to the bedroom where she collapsed on her bed, nearly sleeping but nearly waking. No one came to visit her that night, no one to distract her from reality with hushed whispers and sweet nothings. No soft moans or a sense of being wanted. Just her and the silence she used to fill the time she didn't want. She fell asleep in quite tears. Ino didn't want to wake up in the morning. But she did. She always did.

…

The breeze blew through the window, causing a shiver to travel up her spine at light speed. It was enough to annoy her but not enough to get her to move. She sat with her tea, going cold in her hands. It wasn't the first thing to go cold in her hands that day. But she didn't dwell on it, a lesson she had been taught in the cruelest of ways. She sat and watched the stars. She watched as the thunderclouds rolled in, swallowing the stars whole, drowning them in a grey smog. She watched until the rain pored down, filling the streets with its sweet smell. She got up from her chair by the window, leaving the tea; she could deal with that later, and walked out the door. She took the elevator, like the normal person she pretended to be, and walked out of her building. He relished in the way the rain felt on her skin. It felt like a release, like the rain was washing away the mistakes she'd made, taking her back to a time before. A time before everything fell to shit. Before she caved in. Before she broke. She strolled down the alleyway, littered with trash and the occasional sleeping stranger, until she came to the intersection where she made a left, then a right, then a left, then a left and a right again. She was standing before the memorial stone. She slowly approached. Scared the names she knew would come to life and strangle her. She ghosted a finger over names until she stopped at one. _Hatake Kakashi_. The tears began to form behind her waterline. Her fingers continued on their trail until they found another. _Inuzuka Kiba_. And again. _Hyuuga Hinata_. Then the tears spilled. _Rock Lee_. Her gut twisted. _Sarutobi Asuma_. She looked away in haste and ran. She ran from her problems, she didn't dwell. She didn't dwell on the lost friends, the lost lover, and the lost teacher. She didn't dwell on the memories. It hurt too much. Sakura went back to her apartment and slept. She let the nightmares haunt her. Because it made her feel alive.

…..

He didn't know what to feel anymore. Splattered in the blood of his enemy. He felt empty. Dying even. The loss of a brother, the loss of a father and a mother. He felt almost alone. He looked to the sky, at the grey blanket being laid over black. And oh how it reminded him of the past. He walked back home, slowly he trudged, carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Hiding behind an innocence he pretended to have. As a ninja, he thought he would be saving people lives, infiltrating villages and gathering information. Hero of the town. But it wasn't like that at all. All missions were classified. No one knew of his heroics. He couldn't actually say there were any. All he did was murder. All he did was kill. And he did was destroy.

Naruto was unhappy. A regular occurrence.

…..

Every one could feel the tension in the air. It was thick enough to choke on. He sat on his thrown like a King. She imagined a crown on his head, she imagined her at his side, a queen. She looked at him and she saw an escape. A way out. Karin watched him take a breath, she felt her own get caught in her throat. She saw his eyes darken, saw his shoulders straighten, saw his hair stand on end, saw his soul blacken. She saw _everything_. She was not stupid. She saw the signs. "What do you mean?_ Specifically._" He was angry, she saw that. Beyond angry. Suigestu tried again, this time more clearly. She Suigetsu, draw a sharp breath, in preparation before beginning. "We just got word of a search party coming from Wind country." Sasuke was furious, she didn't miss it. "Then we need to move. Karin," She straightened, "Warn Jugo, we move now." Her heart skipped a beat, they were moving, and this was good. This was further away from Sound. Further away from the nightmares.

…..

When Naruto returned she was the first to greet him, because they were close, but closer at night. They are each other's release. They are each others best kept secret. It isn't love, but it's as close either going to get. It isn't passion, but it comes close. It isn't quite whispers or loving sighs. But it was enough. They sit on _the bench _and light up a cigarette, secretly wondering why she wasn't strong enough, secretly blaming. "How was it?" she asks, keeping it vague. "Tough." He answers, keeping it broad. "Why do you smoke?" he asks, getting a little too personal. "Because it feels good." She answers, giving away a little too much. "Is that all?" he asks, getting too personal. "Yes." She answers short and curt. Shutting him out. "Just asking." He mutters, "I know." She murmurs. "Ino," he says, "Do you think we'll get him back?" she pauses, blowing smoke from the corner of pink painted lips. "I don't know." She starts to walk away, slowly, silently hoping that he'll follow. That he'll keep her company. "Yes you do." He says, and turns and walks the other way.

…..

Sakura waits at Ichiraku. She slowly stirs a red powder into the drink next to her. When he arrives he sits and hands her an envelope. One she is scared to take. Because she knows what it holds, she knows it is important, she knows it is hope. "Thankyou." She whispers as he takes a sip. As she stands he falls, dead. She nods to Teuchi, who is used to his noodle bar being used as a rendezvous point and leaves. No one sees the small smile form on her face.

….

Alright, so I swear this is Sasusaku. Well it will be. There is some build up first, you know plot, character development. Things that make a STORY.

Thanks for reading xx Review if you want


	2. Chapter 2

When she sees Naruto and Ino talking over cigarettes at the bench, she knows that they secretly blame her. She can feel the disappointment, the anger. And oh how she wants to let the tears slip. But she has something valuable now. More so than anger. She has hope. In the little envelope she carries under her headband, is a secret. Her secret. It is hers because she is selfish. Because she craves recognition. Recognition for her new found strength, for her hard work, for her blood and sweat and cries. The kind that Naruto got. The kind that Sasuke got. The kind Hinata got. The kind she hasn't got.

…

Ino hates Sakura. She hates her for all the reasons she should love her. She is pretty, talented and stronger than she could ever hope to be. And she hates it; she used to be the strong one. She was the talented one. She was the pretty one. But now she was a chain smoking, weak, emotionally challenged alcohol enthusiast. But Sakura was a hard working, dedicated young women. (who always drew Sasukes eyes.) Ino rolls off Naruto and she knows he would never use Sakura like this. He wouldn't knock on her door at 3.00am with a pleading look in his eyes. He wouldn't scream Hinata's name. He wouldn't leave afterwards. He wouldn't do that. But he does, and he does it to her and it _hurts_. It's a pain locked so tightly in her heart that she doesn't know how to breathe. So she gets up and goes into the bathroom. And cries.

….

Sasuke stops running, he drops from the trees. Karin thinks this is very unlike him, to stop, to take a break. "Sasuke, why are we stopping?" she asks tentatively. "Shut up." He growls, a low rumble that makes her heart flutter. She knows it is unhealthy, but she can't stop. He looks around, panicked, eyes darting from left to right, breath hitching. Karin rushes to his side but he bats her away. "Sasuke?" He ignores Suigetsu. Karin, Juugo and Suigetsu all miss the shadows lurking in the branches, in the bushes. They don't see them until it is too late. They come out of hiding at an impossible speed. They catch everyone off guard but Sasuke. But even he is restrained. Out of the shadows emerges a girl. One that Karin doesn't know. But she can tell that Sasuke does. Because she doesn't miss anything. His eyes widen, black meets green in a fierce battle. Sasuke is the first to look away. Karin knows who she is.

…

"Sakura." He mutters, head bowed, restrained by a man dressed in all black. "Sasuke." She murmurs. Equally nervous. "We're going home." She says in a voice far stronger than Sasuke remembers. She looks at him with eyes far darker then he would like them to be. "No." she ignores his reply. He doesn't get a choice. Karin sees her shoudlers shake. Just a little. She sees Sasukes eyes go soft. Just a little. And she knows she never had a chance.

…

Okay short chapter I know im sorry. But I have plans. Big plans. Im sorry if my writing style annoys you but I like it so whatevs.

Thanks for reading xx Review and whatever


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto's rage knew no bounds. He sat in the hokages office, waiting for an answer. Waiting for an explanation. Why had he not been involved? Why was he so damn unhappy? "Naruto, as you know, Sasuke has been captured and returned." Tsunade paused, watching and waiting for a reaction that never came. "He is being placed on trial for treason, murder, man slaughter, theft, breaking and entering… my point is Naruto, that the list is endless. Naruto, my only choices are execution or life imprisonment, with the removal of chakra usage." Naruto looked down to his feet. The same feet that couldn't catch Sasuke. It was his fault. His weakness. "Who brought him in?" he asked in a voice to low and guttural to be his own. "That's classified." A short sharp answer meant to shut him up. "Who?"

"Sakura."

…..

Ino burst into Sakuras apartment in a whirlwind of rage and confusion. And their she was. Perfect, princess, pink-haired Sakura, in tears on the sofa. "I thought everyone would be happy, I thought they would be proud of me." The tears kept flowing, Ino's hate melted away into pity.

"No one likes to be kept in the dark Sakura." Ino said.

"I should know" Sakura muttered.

"No one blamed you."

"Not no one, every one."

….

News spread like wildfire through out Konoha, igniting a blaze of gossip and slander. Sakura was either praised or torn down. Karin could hear the guards murmuring outside her jail cell. "I would be furious." "Nah, I get it." "Good on her." And so forth, so forth.

She hated Sakura. The Sakura who captured them. The Sakura who made Sasuke bow down. The one who had a never ending hold on him, she had him wrapped around her finger. And Karin could only watch the inevitable un fold.

…..

Ino went back to see Sakura, the met at the bench. _The _bench.

Sakura sat, eyes red, her hair tangled, lip gloss smeared.

"Im sorry." Ino was the first to break the silence. "He's your team mate, not mine."

"Why did you stop talking to me?" Sakura said, all the worlds hurt in her eyes, the village on her shoulders, an undying innocence in her eyes, like she still had more to see. Ino knew she didn't, Sakura had seen enough.

"Because for a long time I hated you."

Ino sucked in a breath.

"Sometimes I hate me too."

Sakura looked towards her.

"Sakura, do you want to be friends."

…

"I would like that very much."

…

Naruto didn't see Sakura that day, or the next, or the day after, or the one after that. She didn't go looking for him. She was too scared for that. So she went somewhere she felt she ought too. Sasukes' cell.

"Hey." She speaks slowly, tentatively. All her fight and passion lost in a sea of nerves.

For the longest of times he doesn't, doesn't look at her.

"Thank you." He says.

"For what." She answers.

"For doing for me what I couldn't do."

….

Karin hears his words through the wall, and they are the kindest she's ever heard him speak. She hates that Sakura can draw that out of him. She hates her princess hair and eyes, her large forehead and her small frame. She hates what she has taken from her. Her way out.

Karin feels lost.

Cold.

Alone.

She doesn't have a way out anymore, no escape, no future. Just prison. Or death. Probably the later.

Her life is falling down around her; all her carefully constructed walls of feigned ignorance come crashing down. And she sees her self for the first time. And she hates it.

She falls to the floor, a mess of broken confidence and scarred imagination. She doesn't cry. She just lays there, eyes to the ceiling, mind on the stars beyond.

"Hello?" a feminine voice, filled with uncertainty.

"Can I come in?"

"Whatever." Karins voice comes out ragged and torn.

The first thing Karin sees is pink hair.

"Hi, im …"

"I know who you are." Karin answers, not moving from the floor.

"I just came to tell you that Konoha is considering letting you go."

"Why?"

"You weren't seen as being an accessory, just…"

"I guess I wasn't important enough for that huh?"

"I guess not."

…..

Karin is found the next day.

Hanging from a rope.

Dead.


End file.
